Jamie Webber has many titles - Whitney Forum Zamboni driver, Bomber superfan and of course, his nickname “Poopsie”. Webber wants people to know another side of him - a prostate cancer survivor and health advocate.
The usually boisterous and often entertaining figure, often seen driving the Zamboni during Bomber game intermissions with his purple wig and visor or in the crowd at games with a wooden spoon and metal pan as noisemakers, wants to help promote men’s health. To start Movember, Webber plans to start a video campaign urging men to get checkups and tests, in hopes that they can avoid fighting the same disease he was diagnosed with two years ago.
Webber’s dad had prostate cancer, pushing him to be extra cautious of the disease.
“I’m a very big advocate for getting checked out for it because I have it, my dad had it and I started getting checked out in my mid-forties - you never know, right?” he said.
“It’s not a big thing. One in eight men in their lifetime will get prostate cancer - it’s just about how you go about it. Go get your annual check.”
Webber was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020 after several tests and procedures, first seeing possible symptoms at the very start of the year. The news hit him hard.
“When the doctor told me I had cancer, he started talking and he sounded like the teacher from Charlie Brown. I never heard a word after. I went to my sister’s and I said, ‘I have prostate cancer,’ and I started crying. She asked me ‘well, what did he say?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know what he said,’” he said. Webber had to go back to the hospital later that day to ask questions.
Webber, compared to many others, was lucky - his cancer was caught at an early stage and can be managed. While prostate cancer is not a disease that ever formally goes into remission, his prostate-specific antigen levels - a warning sign for possible cancer - are low and staying that way.
Despite the relatively positive outlook, Webber knows the cancer is still within him and thinks about the battle against it each day.
“It’s a daily thing. You think about it in the morning - you think about it in the night. It’s always in the back of your mind. You try to live your life the best you can, but it’s always in the back of your mind,” he said.
“It plays a lot of mental games with you, because when you feel something, you go, ‘Oh god, what’s that?’”
Webber has put together videos urging men to get checkups, to be tested for prostate cancer and to keep watch on their mental health. He’s not seeking to raise money directly and does not have any fundraiser or campaign for Movember, but hopes anyone able to donate to benefit men’s health does so.
He’s also had support from the team he works so closely with, including messages of support and positivity from several Bomber players.
“I did a video on the ice and on with some of the boys saying ‘We’re playing for Poopsie’,” he said.
“I was up in the press box and they all yelled out ‘Poopsie!’ from up there. This year I’m going to do more with the awareness of it, do the talking. That’s one of the important things - do the talk.”
Webber hopes sharing his story can inspire more men to be checked for prostate cancer and to be careful with their health, including mental health. Webber said he’s also been treated for depression and takes medication for it, saying he’s seen a difference and hopes other people can seek mental health help or treatment.
“I know I’m not alone - I’m not the only person who has this and I’m not the first one, but I want to pass that on to people and hopefully prevent it,” he said.
“I’ve got lots of support. I have my family, my friends and if I need to talk to somebody, I do. I’ve gone to counsellors over it. My girlfriend is a very big supporter - a great listener.”
Webber’s main message is to promote early screening for prostate cancer. Early detection, he said, saved his cancer from possibly growing, getting worse and possibly being fatal.
Webber also knows that, for many men, there’s a stigma attached to prostate cancer or being tested for it - his message for that is simple.
“Don’t be embarrassed. Don’t be a hero. You’re not a hero when you’re six feet under,” he said.
“Don’t be embarrassed to go get it done. Whoop de do. It doesn’t make you any less of a man or anything like that - it’s just a natural thing of life.”
